


Infection

by Kiloueka



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-19 15:12:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11900361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiloueka/pseuds/Kiloueka
Summary: 9S is able to reach 2B before A2 kills her near the bridge. Can he remove the virus in time?





	1. No Longer [A]lone

**Author's Note:**

> There's some glitchy text in the middle, so I've put the non-glitched version in the notes at the bottom if you can't read it.

“2B.... 2B!” 9S panted as he sprinted across the bridge. He saw her fall to her knees in front of A2 and his heart skipped a beat as he ran even faster than he thought possible.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” He screamed as he charged at the deserter, swinging his sword wildly at her. A2 simply blocked his attack and said nothing in response.

“9....S....” 2B breathed.

“2B! It's ok! I'm-” The words caught in his throat the moment he turned and caught a glimpse of her crimson eyes. “No...”

“She asked me to kill her.” Said A2, flicking his sword away. “But now that you're here it's probably best if you did it yourself.”

“What? NO!” He screamed. “There's no way! I can fix this.”

“9S... please.” 2B panted.

“I can do this 2B! I've done it before, and I can do it again, just believe in me.” 9S ran over and kneeled down across from her; her entire body was trembling as she desperately fought the virus slowly taking over. He gave a soft smile as she shook her head in a last ditch attempt to discourage him from endangering himself for her sake.

“I can't waste any more time arguing 2B. Hacking in.”

The moment he hacked in, he was met with near-complete destruction. Her entire hacking space was covered in a sickly, black, fluid-like substance and it was worming its way through her whole system.

 _This is bad. This is really bad. But I can do this, there's no way I can fail._ He began working, dodging purple and orange orbs coming from all directions as he fought to find a way to reverse the effect.

_It's mutating way too fast... If I could just-_

“9S.” Her voice crackled throughout the entire area.

“I'm here 2B! I--”

“Please leave me, I'm not worth it.”

“What are you talking about? Yes you are!”

“I'm not what you think I am. My real designation is... 2E. I'm an execution type.”

“I don't care!”

“The sole reason I was created was to monitor and terminate you whenever command ordered me to.”

**“I don't care!”**

“I've hurt you, I've killed you so many times.”

_**“I don't care!”** _

“Please, let my last act... please let me save you just this once.”

“What's the point of saving me if I let you die and leave me behind?”

“Please...”

“I don't care if you've killed me a thousand times, I don't care if you kill me a thousand times more; being alone with you gone is worse!”

“Nines... P-pl...”

 _Nines..._ “...I can't... I'm sorry, I'm going to get us both out of this.”

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 2B up to 90%.”

“Not if I can help it.” 9S responded. He continued hacking, hardly making any headway as the virus continued to adapt.

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 2B up to 92%.”

“Shut up, I know.”

 _Oh, if I just change the code here a bit then maybe I can stop it from mutating at least._ He quickly punched in a series of lines and waited tensely.

“Alert:” His pod's voice blared out. “Virus contamination detected in Unit 9S. Contamination currently at 7%. Proposal: Self hack and remove immediately.”

_Shit shit shit shit. Ok, it's ok, if I can get this out of her before mine reaches 50% or so, I should be able to get it out of myself just fine._

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 2B up to 94%.”

 _Shit it's not working._ He thought, as he scanned the area and found no change.

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 11%.”

“Shut up, I know.”

“Alert: Virus contamination in unit 2B up to 95%.”

“I SAID SHUT UP.”

 _Ok ok, I can do this, I can do this. I ca-- nghh..._ He had been so preoccupied with hacking that he didn't notice 2B's hands had come up around his neck and were slowly tightening around his throat. He twisted around a bit to loosen her grip then pushed on.

 _Running out of options... if I can just... pull some of her virus into me I can maybe buy some more time. All I need to do is just switch these codes around and... there._ He winced and grunted in pain as the virus tore his way into his body.

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 2B down to 75%.”

2B's hands fell from his neck and snaked around his back. He could feel her pulling him close and resting her head on his shoulder as she continued pleading for him to save himself.

“Alert: Virus contamination in unit 9S up to 31%.”

“N-nines... what are you doing?”

“Buying time, I got this 2B, I won't let you down.”

He dug deep into her circuitry and kept running through his options and trying everything he could possibly think, but, no matter what he did, the pods continued blaring alert after alert at the both of them. He could feel his consciousness slowly slipping and his internal processes start to malfunction.

_Nothing's working. Nothings workgng nothin's noworkging nothing͘wo͏r͡kgin̛ ͘nothing̷ w ̡w͡orkgin̴ wn̶i̧ght ͟n̴ogh͢tin̡g͝ ͏w̴os͝ k͡fi̕ņ wn͘i̸g̸o͏ht̡ni҉ng̕ ͠wǫr̶kg̡i̧n□͏ □̷ □ ͝ni͘g҉oh҉t҉io̶□̴ rk͞g_

_r͘kgin n͟w̛o ͢gh͏ti͢n̡f̛ ͜ sdwo n͢ ̡ □̧ ̡ ̕ ̨o͡thin̵g ̶wor_

_҉ k͝gn□ ̕ ̷w̷nǫig□ ͡notih͘n_

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 66%”

_P͡le͡a□͜ ̡se.̢.. ͠let.̶.. m̵e͢.҉.̡.̢ a҉ţ..͡.͞ ̶lea̧st̡...͞ s□̨ av̕e͜..̕.͠ ̸her...͡._

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 2B up to 96%.”

She was still fighting, weakly. Her arms were still wrapped tightly around his back as she managed to “trick” the virus into hugging him tighter rather than going back up to strangle him again. The pain he felt in his back was no different to the virus than the pain in his neck at this point, so she took advantage of that fact and held tight around him.

“I can't...” He wheezed. “2B... I'm... sorry.”

2B didn't respond. Instead, she let out a mournful scream unlike anything he's ever heard before. It shook him to his core and the sheer, raw emotion being pushed out all at once made his body heave and threaten to vomit everything out of him.

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 74%.”

He could hear a clicking sound coming up behind him. Oh right, A2 was still there.

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 2B up to 98%.”

The tapping grew louder and stopped; her shadow loomed over them and blocked out the sun. He let out a faint laugh as he reluctantly accepted what he knew was about to happen. He held 2B closer and flashed a faint, smile at her, despite knowing full well she couldn't see it.

“2B... It was... an honor... to be... with you... tru...ly.”

“The honor... was mine... Nines...s...”

He closed his eyes as he felt the sting of Virtuous Contract tear through him and into her and the world around him slowly faded from existence.

They fell at A2's feet as she pulled the sword from their bodies; their thick, oily, blood spilled out and mixed together as it trickled down the rocks like a quiet stream. A peaceful smile had spread across both their faces as they held each other close and realized after all this time, they were finally together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glitchy text reads:
> 
> Nothing's working. Nothings workgng nothin's noworkging nothingworkgin nothing w workgin wnight noghting wos kfin wnigohtning workgin nigohtio rkg  
> rkgin nwo ghtinf sdwo n othing wor  
> kgn wnoig notihn  
> "Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 66%"  
> Plea se... let... me... at... least... s ave... her....


	2. Fight [B]ack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The universe resets without anyone knowing it and 9S has another chance at saving 2B.

_P͡le͡a□͜ ̡se.̢.. ͠let.̶.. m̵e͢.҉.̡.̢ a҉ţ..͡.͞ ̶lea̧st̡...͞ s□̨ av̕e͜..̕.͠ ̸her...͡._

_Ơn̵e҉ mo̷.̶.̷re□̧ ̡□̧ ̡ o͡n͞ mae ̵m̶o̢r□͏ ̷et͝h͡oi͟ ͞ome ͠ơne͘ mo͠m͠re͡ t_

_i͟ □͏ □̧ ̡ ̶cii̶ ͢c̶an͡ ͞d̷o͢ oņe̴ mo_

_r̨e_ _□_ ̶̸̶̮͉̜̼̯͍̝̺̰̜̜͗͐̓̎͊̔ͭͦͮ͟ _t͘hin͘g.g͢g._

He turned and faced the raging virus and input one small string of code into his partner. He could feel a faint shudder and what could only be described as a scream as he pulled the virus out of her and into himself. Pain. Unimaginable pain shot through him as it coursed and raged through his body. He could faintly feel 2B's body lean more against his as she shut down to reboot.

He pushed through; he had some time before the virus acclimated to the change and begin tearing at his systems. There were still things he had to do before... He delved into his own hacking space and disabled all his motor functions. He slumped over with 2B still in his arms.

J̰̈́s̻̥̫͛̎̈ͅś̤̱̞͇̱̞s̪ͣ͆̕ṯ̘̠̜̩ͪ̄̋̋ͅ ̨̠͂ͤͩ ̓ͭ̌̂̅͒̅͡f̞͔̺ͦ̃e̼̠w̜ͅ ̛̮̬̗̮̩̌̍mͭ͋͏͕̗̮ö̵͍̙̙̱̥͒ͯ̊ ̈́ͪ͂ ̘̙̖̹̗̩̬́͂̈r̡̙͇̲̖͚̠̝̈́ͨͯ̐͂̄e̳̓̿͜.̗͎̤̱͍ͧͥ.̥̞͎͓̅ͬ͑ͣ̈ͯ.̹̟̠ͤ̃̏̃ͧ̽ͫ ̂̎t̵͕̥̖̼͈͔h͙̠͕͙̘̱ͫͨ͞ḙ̷̠̫ͮ̓͑ͭͯ̑r̺̱̰̈́ͦ͑̃̌̂e̢͗ͨ̐̅̄̏͑ _._ He sighed in relief as he successfully slowed the virus down significantly. He knew there was nothing left to do to stop it, so he just opted to wait for 2B to wake so he could at least say goodbye one last time.

* * *

 “Ngh..” 2B groaned as her systems started coming back online. Her whole body ached and she could barely move, but she forced her eyes open to take in her surroundings. 9S's blindfolded face came into view and she felt her heart race a little bit. _He... was successful?_

“Nines...?” She whispered. A faint smile spread across his lips as he heard her voice.

“Hhhaahah... I did... it. 2B... you're gonna be... ok.”

He didn't sound right, he didn't sound right at all. 2B sat up and tugged the visor free from his face and was met with one of her biggest fears: the glowing red of the logic virus was the only thing she could see when she gazed into his eyes.

“9S... hurry...” She coughed. “Self hack and save yourself... before it's too late.”

9S looked at her with a confused expression before recollection flashed across his face. “Oh... right.” He closed his eyes tightly and sat still.

2B could feel her soul being ripped to pieces at his slow reaction. _It's already too late._ 9S's whole body began twitching and trembling as he continued fighting and losing.

_I know what my job is. It's to... to... no... it was supposed to be over. I... I can't do this anymore._

_I can't._

_I can't..._

She didn't move when his body began moving on its own.

She didn't move when he looked at her with pleading eyes.

She didn't move when his trembling hands began reaching towards her.

She didn't move when he called her name and begged her to flee.

She didn't move when his fingers snaked around her neck.

She didn't move when the tears began flowing from his eyes as he could only watch as his body slowly killed the one he loved.

She didn't move when he pushed her down and climbed on top of her.

“Fight... back...” His voice was faint and strained, and pushed through clenched teeth.

“I... can't.”

“P-please...”

“I'm s-sor- I f-ai- I fail...ed.”

“2...B...”

“We... c-can... final..ly... togeth...er.”

His grip tightened around her throat; she could feel it being crushed, slowly, but surely. Tears never ceased pouring down on her as he continued to beg her to kill him, to save herself. His body was so warm against hers, and she almost felt... happy... as her life drained away through his hands. _This is what I deserve._

Stars. She saw stars in his eyes as the darkness swallowed up her vision. With the last of her strength, she reached up to 9S's crying face and tenderly stroked the tears away. He shuddered and screamed as the virus continued eating away at his consciousness.

Before it all went black, she felt a sharp pain flash through her chest. She looked up weakly to see Virtuous Contract standing straight and tall, piercing through 9S's body and into hers. He made one final groan and shudder before sliding down the blade and onto her. Her arm fell limply across his back and with her final breath, she turned and said...

“Thank... you.... A2...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glitchy text reads:  
> One mo..re on mae mor ethoi ome one momre t  
> i cii can do one mo  
> re thing.gg.  
> \---  
> Jssst few mo re... there


	3. Close [C]all

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The universe resets itself again because it really wants to see these stupid sad androids be happy.

_Oh, if I just change the code here a bit then maybe I can stop it from mutating at least._ He quickly punched in a series of lines and waited tensely.

“Alert:” His pod's voice blared out. “Virus contamination detected in Unit 9S. Contamination currently at 7%. Proposal: Self hack and remove immediately.”

_Shit shit shit shit. Ok, it's ok, if I can get this out of her before mine reaches 50% or so, I should be able to get it out of myself just fine._

He looked back to 2B and nervously checked her virus progression.

_It... it's slowing! I... I can't believe it!_

“2B. I think I'm on to something, just hang on a little longer and I'll get this out.”

Despite having weakened the virus significantly and thwarted its efforts to continue evolving, it still progressed at an alarming rate. He doubled down on his efforts and kept at it, tearing at it bit by bit. He just needed to create a code that helped her internal antivirus system recognize and destroy the threat on its own.

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 2B down to 94%.”

 _Hahah I'm doi̸n͟g it. I'm... nghh..._ 2B's hands had come up and were closing around his throat. Her arms trembled as she fought it and 9S ignored the pain and breathlessness as he kept working. His vision started going dark so he shifted his head around in hopes of loosening her grip just a little, but was unsuccessful.

Not long after, he heard the familiar tapping of heels approaching. Suddenly, the pressure was released from his throat as 2B's hands came away. He cracked his eyes open momentarily to see that A2 had grabbed onto 2B's wrists and pried them away from his neck. She held them off to the side and he saw 2B smile weakly and give her a nod of thanks.

“Alert: Virus contamination in unit 9S up to 16%”

He ignored it and kept talking himself through his work. Several minutes went by and 2B's infection slowly decreased as his ticked dangerously closer to the point of no return. A2 released her grip from 2B's hands soon after she regained some control and they fell limply at her sides. She kept trembling and groaning as A2 stepped back a ways and closely watched the events unfold.

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 47%”

 _Come on, come on, com̛e̴ o͞n.̶ Ju͢st ͏a few more lines of code here and she should ̨b̸e̷ able to fight it herself._ He was definitely feeling the effects of the virus raging inside him now. Sweat dripped down his forehead as his processors began heating to dangerous levels.

 _There!_ He entered the last line of code and waited breathlessly to see if it was successful. A flash of light caught his attention and he looked to see the brilliant white of her hacking space grow as the new code worked its way through the black muck, forcing it back.

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 2B down to 67%.”

“Hah.h..hhhhah I think I did it... 2B... I'm going to shut your body down so your antivirus can work faster. When you wake up, everything should be fixed... for both of us. Just hang on for a while ok?”

“Ok...” She said weakly. Fighting the virus as hard as she did sapped a lot of energy from her and she definitely needed the rest while her body fought off the infection. He did one more check and powered her down, causing her body to fall against the cold ground with a quiet thump. 9S cursed himself for not being able to catch her but...

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 50%”

 _Shit҉. ̛Sḩi͠t. S̷h̕it._ He hacked into himself and surveyed the damage before pulling up the code he used to fight 2B's virus. _Need̛ t͠o͡..͘.̨ tweak͠ a͡ bit̡.͠.. ͞sh͡o̸ųl̢d͞ ̶be g̕o͏ơd.̷_ He reached the code he needed to edit and began entering it in before pausing and looking around, confused as his mind fogged over. _W̡h͘.͟. w̸h͜a͘t wa̕s̛ ͝I ̴doi̷n͠g͝?̕_

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 51%”

_V̡i̷r̢us.͟.._

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 52%”

_I n͝e̢e̢de̴d҉ to d͟o͢ ͡…̧ ͞s͟o̵me͝t͘h͠ing.̛.._

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 53%”

_2̕.̢..B.͠..̕_

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 54%”

_2҉B̨.͝.._

“Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 55%”

_2B!_

He shook his head clear and jumped back to action. The code was still there, waiting for his final edits. He quickly changed the last of the lines he needed before his mind clouded over again.

 _GO!_ 9S set the code free and watched as it came to life and tore through the virus just like it did in 2B. He let out a shaky laugh in relief and watched and waited as he watched the virus' futile last attempts at taking over. The scanner smiled at his work before lying down next to 2B and shutting himself down as well.

* * *

 “Ngh...” 2B let out a pained groan as her systems came back online. Everything hurt, inside and out, it was like a forest fire had raged through her entire body and was just dying down. She glanced around hazily as her vision slowly improved.

“Mornin'.” 2B looked toward the sound to see A2 leaning up against a huge white pillar that had sprung up sometime in the past... however long it had been. “Took you long enough.”

“A... 2...” She blinked slowly and then memories of the past few hours hit her all at once. “9S!” She screamed and looked down to see him collapsed on the ground next to her. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into her lap before checking his vitals. _He's alive. Thank god._ “Pod! Status on 9S's condition.”

“Unit 9S has entered a forced shutdown to combat the logic virus infecting his systems. Virus removal nearly complete. Unit 9S should enter reboot sequence in approximately 2-4 minutes.”

“So... he's gonna be ok?”

“Affirmative.”

“I'm so glad... I'm so... hahah.” She turned back to 9S. “Stupid. Stupid. You shouldn't have risked your life like that... for someone like me...” Her voice had quieted to a shaky whisper as she cradled him in her arms.

“Well.. looks like I'm not needed here anymore.” A2 said as she turned to leave. “So... see ya.”

“Wait... A2.” 2B looked up and gazed at the disheveled android.

A2 stopped and turned her head half way towards them but said nothing.

“... Thank you. For saving me, for saving _us_... And... I'm so sorry for the way we treated you before; for blindly following orders and trying to kill you.” She bowed deeply toward the other android while still protectively holding the recovering 9S in her arms.

“There's no need for us to be enemies anymore now that YoRHa's gone, so please... come back to the Resistance camp with us. It will be safer for us to stay together with all these infected YoRHa units around. We can help repair all of the damage we've caused you over the years... And I'm sure Anemone would be happy to see you.”

A2 turned all the way around to face 2B and pondered her proposal for a moment.

“Okay. I'll come with you. But only until this mess is over.” She gestured to the huge tower still rising in the distance. 2B felt a splash of joy in her heart upon hearing her response, but before she could respond, 9S stirred.

“Mmm... ngh...” He groaned as his body finally began to reboot.

“Nines.” She whispered and began tenderly stroking his hair. He pried his crystal blue eyes open and looked at her hazily for a moment.

“2-2B... are you...?”

“I'm fine. I'm ok. Thank you... Nines.” She pulled him closer and squeezed him tight. “I was so scared.”

“Heh... you finally called me... Nines... And... you were really... worried about me?”

“Of course I was worried... I've always been worried about you. I've always cared about you. I've always enjoyed being around you. I've always... hahhah... I... I don't have to hide my feelings anymore. Ha hhahha.” Tears welled up in her eyes and shoulders trembled at her new realization.

“YoRHa's gone... They'll never make me hurt you again. I can... I don't have to lie to you anymore. I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not. I can hold you and take care of you and... love you. I-I'm free.” She let out a breathy laugh and rocked him gently back and forth. 9S smiled softly and reached up to stroke her cheek.

“Hehhehh... Looks like we have a lot of catching up to do.”

2B sniffled and nodded, smiling in return. “No more hiding, I'll do whatever it takes to make things right.” 9S shifted up in her lap and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her chest. They held each other like that for a while and cried into each others' arms until they heard an annoyed grunt from a ways away.

“If you two keep this up I'm changing my mind on your offer.” A2 snarked.

“Our... offer?” 9S tilted his head in confusion. 2B laughed softly at her reaction.

“I invited her to come back with us to camp. She saved us, and we owe her so much for what we tried to do to her.”

“Oh, I like that idea.” He turned to A2 and bowed. “Thank you A2, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for saving 2B. Shes... so important to me and I couldn't imagine losing her.”

“I noticed.” She responded flatly. “Anyway, lets head to camp already, looks like the bridge is down so we'll have to take the long way around. I hope you two can walk because I am _not_ carrying anyone.”

A small smile appeared on her face as she and 9S struggled to pull their weakened bodies up. A2 certainly was a character; she kinda liked that. She wondered if maybe one day the three of them could become fast friends. It was a nice thought, to say the least.

Once they had done a quick check over of each other, she wrapped a supportive arm around 9S and he reciprocated immediately. They turned to A2 and she held out her hand towards the annoyed android. A2 looked at her hand for a moment before walking forward and taking it in hers and forcing a slight half-grin on her dirty face.

2B's smile grew wider at the contact, and with her hand linked with her doppelganger's and other arm around her love, they turned to face the rising tower and vowed to confront this new threat... together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Speaking of glitchy, the notes are all fucked up and idk wat do.

**Author's Note:**

> Glitchy text reads:
> 
> Nothing's working. Nothings workgng nothin's noworkging nothingworkgin nothing w workgin wnight noghting wos kfin wnigohtning workgin nigohtio rkg  
> rkgin nwo ghtinf sdwo n othing wor  
> kgn wnoig notihn  
> "Alert: Virus contamination in Unit 9S up to 66%"  
> Plea se... let... me... at... least... s ave... her....


End file.
